By Eric Yulo. Eric works in HR.

I usually don’t go around searching for art, so it’s great that art keeps finding me.

JcR, our resident spammologist, recently spammed me with a link to a site that elevates mayonnaise to an art form. Clearly, mayo belongs on both charcuterie and canvas.

The mezzanine gallery of our San Francisco building has an exhibit of black and white photographs by Eugene Resheko. On display are 11 interesting earthscapes and dramatic urban scenes from San Francisco and Guatemala. Good old black and whites are a welcome break from my C++, Actionscript and PHP5- dominated desk.

Should Gap founder Don Fisher be allowed to build a contemporary art museum in the Presidio? I am one degree of separation from this controversy, as my pro-museum manager Deva gets heckled and boo’d by the anti-arts contingent at the Presidio Trust Public Board of Directors Meetings. I, too, am pro-museum, and I will think of Deva’s art advocacy each time I see Edvard Munch’s “The Scream.”

On the homefront, my de facto mother-in-law’s second book, “Art is Fundamental,” just hit the stands, and I am mentioned in the acknowledgements page. It’s a relief to know that I can champion the arts without having to lift a brush, get lynched or build a clothing empire.

By Erin Pipkin. Erin is part of the Search Quality Team.

I thought it was about time to update my list of favorite Etsy jewelry sellers (see my blog post from a month or two ago). Now I’ve got a new feature to help me keep track of the greatness! Here are some of the most interesting things I’ve come across lately on Etsy, all gathered into a nice, neat stack.

By Lexi Kent-Monning, Customer Support Specialist. This is a two-part series.

After Radiohead’s great success with their online experiment, Nine Inch Nails was the next to follow suit by releasing two free albums in a matter of months. Trent Reznor, the man behind Nine Inch Nails, recorded an instrumental album, “Ghosts,” consisting of 36 tracks. He posted nine of them for free on his web site. All 36 tracks could be downloaded for only $5, the physical CD could be bought for $10, or deluxe editions were available for $75 or $300.

Just a few months later, Nine Inch Nails released an entirely free album, “The Slip,” with Reznor posting on the band’s site that this was his way of thanking his fans for their support over the years, essentially saying “This one’s on me.” Reznor also produced an album for the poet Saul Williams entitled “The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust!,” which was offered for free or for $5 to support the artist. This album was downloaded by over 150,000 people, nearly 30,000 of which paid.

Many other artists are turning to the Internet to release music – Girl Talk is another example – or to raise funds from their fans to record new music without an advance from a record label - the route taken Jill Sobule and Giant Drag. Can this model work? Well, Radiohead made in excess of £1 million in one week with their new album, while their old record label, EMI, announced its 4th round of layoffs in less than a year just two weeks ago. Clearly these artists see the endless opportunities of music and the Internet, while many record labels are still clinging to their old, antiquated methods.

By Lexi Kent-Monning, Customer Support Specialist. This is a two-part series.
The Internet has changed the way users consume media - newspapers, movies, TV shows, and maybe most of all, music. Musicians are now taking control of their own music in ways they previously couldn’t - especially in regards to how their music is recorded, listened to and released.

Radiohead was the first high-profile group to release their music essentially for free on the Web. After several years on a major label, the band decided not to sign to any label after fulfilling their contractual obligations. Instead, they recorded a new album, “In Rainbows,” in their own studio and released it on the Web for listeners to download - for any amount of money. Aside from a £1 processing fee to download the digital files, listeners were not obligated to pay anything to access the band’s new album.

Over a million unique users downloaded the album in the first week it was available, easily earning the band more money than any advance from a major label. (They would have earned more even if all the users had paid the minimum fee.) Users also had the option to buy (for set fees) a copy of the physical CD, vinyl, or a box set, all of which came with a free copy of the digital album.

By Michelle Cardinal, Director of Customer Support.

Layne Heiny over at Technology Questions created a stack of “The Top 15 Tablet PC Videos.” This is a great use of stacks, and here’s how Layne did it:

“After viewing all of the videos, 88 favorites were placed into a new stack called Tablet PC Videos. These were viewed a few times and the top 15 were chosen. Actually, you will find 2 bonus videos included in the list. Why? Because I couldn’t chose between my two favorites from Hugo.”

By Bibiana Lozano, Office Manager.

As the office manager in San Francisco, I’ve been working on making our office more eco-friendly, and I put together a stack that has guided me through this. Some of the sites are fun to check out and give you daily tips on what to change and what the outcome will be. My tip for the day: Check out these sites and make a change a day in your office and home.

By Tori Patton, Intern/Contractor.

My favorite part of working at SearchMe, beside the food of course, has to be the Wii. When you need a break from work and you might need to take out your frustration, the perfect place to go is over to the Wii console behind Jennie’s desk. It is never a problem to find people to play with. As soon as people hear the sound of the Wii console starting up, they pop their heads over their cubicle walls to see who is playing. If they have a moment, they will usually head over to the Wii and either cheer on with the people watching, or join in themselves.

Thankfully we have not yet had a problem with breaking anything in the office from any intense Wii activity. I am not sure how much longer we can go without damaging something; its been over a year now and counting…

Recently we bought several new games. The new favorite is Mario Kart, in which you use the Wii wheel to control where your character drives. While the Wii serves as a break from work, often times the break is not as relaxing as you might imagine. It is common to hear people yelling, screaming, and often swearing from the corner of the Mountain View office. This makes their break from work that much more entertaining. While Guitar Hero once was a favorite in the office, Mario Kart has definitely moved to the number one spot.

Other favorites include Mama’s Cook Off, in which you try to prepare a meal on the Wii by chopping onions, frying eggs, adding salt and pepper, and the list goes on. Other games have not caught on quite as fast, but I am sure they will find their time. The one classic game that has never seemed to get old is Wii Sports. The favorites on Wii Sports are tennis and golf, the two country club sports. We are hoping to have a Wii tournament in the office sometime soon to see who the ultimate Wii Champion is. May the best person win!

By Michelle Cardinal, Director of Customer Support.

FIVE pregnant friends. Yup, that means five babies to be that will be getting a fabulous toy from their honorary Auntie Michelle. I’m also a bona fide Auntie, as I have a six-month old nephew. When his pending arrival was announced, I was instructed by my sister, a wildlife biologist, that it’s no longer enough for baby things to be cute, cuddly or clever. Now, they really ought to be phthalate, pesticide and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) free.

Happily, baby toys are definitely on the top-ten-most-fun-things-to-shop-for list, and I’ve been compiling some fabulous things using the Stacks feature. Check it out! My favorite, I think, is the rubber ducky made from actual rubber.

Barbara Locke, Search Analyst.

The other day, I was rushing out the door when I remembered a story about a dolphin that received a prosthetic fluke. I typed Bionic Dolphin in the Searchme search box and there it was, on the fourth result. I didn’t have to click on numerous links, open a single page or read the article to find my dolphin. The picture of the dolphin was right there on the news page. Since I was running late, I “stacked” the page in the To Read stack and left.

When I got to the office, I searched the other engines and couldn’t find my bionic dolphin as easily or as fast. To get what I wanted, I had to type longer phrases such as dolphin receives prosthetic tail and its variations, open several links and read a few paragraphs.

It’s fun to experiment while searching. As experienced Web navigators, we learn a few tricks on how to find what we are looking for quickly and also how to avoid all the spam and other useless links. At work, I like to put myself on the keyboard of a novice Web user. It’s like detective work – What’s the reasoning behind each search? What would a 10 year old type? How to use the search box in an economic way, saving keystrokes and time? Our visual search allows me to do all that without wasting time.

What is your creative way of searching the Web?